Saturday, November 28, 2020
Town of Franklin, MA: Specimen Ballot for Special Election - Dec 5
The election collection with links to the candidate interviews can be found
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| Specimen Ballot for Special Election - Dec 5 |
"Number of high-risk communities rises to 81"
From CommonWealth Magazine we share an article of interest for Franklin:
"THE NUMBER of communities considered high-risk for COVID-19 rose from 62 to 81 on Friday, as cases statewide continued to grow rapidly while deaths from the coronavirus grew more slowly.
The numbers followed what has become a predictable pattern during the second surge. Four weeks ago the Baker administration revised the metrics it uses to determine a high-risk, or red, community, causing the number to fall from 121 to 16. But since then the number of red communities has grown rapidly week by week, rising from 16 to 31 to 62 to 81.
Between November 8 and November 21, there were 36,194 new cases of COVID-19. More than half – 55 percent – of those infected were less than 39 years old, while those 70-plus accounted for just 7.6 percent of the cases. Deaths followed the opposite pattern: 83 percent of deaths were among those 70 or older and only 1.4 percent were 39 or less.
Deaths have been growing far more moderately than infections during this second surge. From November 8 to November 21, there were 357 deaths, up from 319 between November 1 and November 14. The deaths in the previous two-week intervals totaled 280 and 241. The Baker administration’s dashboard for Friday, which covered Wednesday afternoon through Friday morning, reported 4,464 new cases and 29 deaths."
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| Franklin Community data as of 11/25/20 |
Friday, November 27, 2020
Franklin's weekend outlook: Nov 27 - 30, 2020
A quiet Thanksgiving weekend. The library does have Curbside Pickup available Friday, November 27 and Saturday, November 28 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Santa arrives Sunday in a drive by event on the Town Common at 4:00 PM.
* Friday, November 27
9:00am - Town of Franklin offices CLOSED
* Sunday, November 29
4:00pm - Santa on the Common - Drive by event
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| Community Calendar |
FM #399 Town Council Candidates Night - 11/23/20 (audio)
FM #399 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 399 in the series.
This shares the Candidates Night for the special election to fill the open spot on the Town Council. The evening was conducted in a hybrid format. All the candidates were present in the Council Chambers along with the moderator and Town Clerk office members. The public was able to participate via conference bridge or live stream to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
The recording runs about 41 minutes, so let’s listen to the Candidates Night held Nov 23, 2020. Audio file = https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/H1qbWGQS
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My interviews with each of the candidates (in alpha order)
Town Council candidate - Gregory R Chiklis (audio interview) = https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/11/fm-393-town-council-candidate-greg.html
Town Council candidate - Alan R Earls (audio interview) = https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/10/fm-369-town-council-candidate-alan.html
Town Council candidate - Cobi Frongillo (audio interview) = https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/10/fm-359-town-council-candidate-cobi.html
Town Council candidate - KP Sompally (audio interview) = https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/11/fm-382-town-council-candidate-kp.html
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
- If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
- If you don't like something here, please let me know
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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| FM #399 Town Council Candidates Night - 11/23/20 (audio) |
“I just hope everyone stays healthy and we can finish this year right“
Via Pantherbook, we share this article on FHS student feedback on hybrid
"Up until November 16th, FHS students hadn’t been inside the school in 248 days. A place where such kids would typically spend about seven hours five days a week had been shut down, with nobody having a clue about when it would re-open.
Although there is still no definite answer as to what the future looks like, students in Cohort C attended in-person learning at the high school this past week (excluding remote Wednesday). Let’s take a look at the things they enjoyed, the things they didn’t, and how in-person learning compares to the past two months of remote learning.
Ashley Currivan, a freshman this year and alum of Horace Mann Middle School, comments, “At school, I enjoy seeing people and getting to still go to and switch classes throughout the day. I think [the members of the FHS staff] are handling it very well and I really enjoyed it so far!”
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| “I just hope everyone stays healthy and we can finish this year right“ |
“He kind of perfected it sitting around this table”
"Arlo Guthrie's rambling, spoken-word tune “Alice's Restaurant” is a Thanksgiving Day tradition on radio stations across the country. Over the course of about 18 minutes, the folk singer unfurls a true tale involving himself and his hippie friends in 1960s Western Massachusetts.Now — more than 50 years after the iconic song hit the airwaves — its namesake has fallen on hard times. But Alice's friends have launched a crowdfunding campaign to help her stay in the only place she's ever really wanted to be: Provincetown on Cape Cod.But first, it helps to find out how she got there."